27개의 게시물을 찾았습니다.
MEDIACT, an important S. Korean resource/center for independent media education and activism is under massive threat to be terminated by the "ruling" LMB administration!
IMC S.K. (yeah, it's still "alive"!??) published a few days ago following piece:
Media and democracy in South Korea: Save Mediact
We join those concerned over the regression of democracy in South Korea that has now taken the form of an attack on Mediact, South Korea’s first public media center that has since its founding represented South Korea internationally as a leader in communication rights and democracy, media literacy, intellectual property rights, and public interest media...
Since 2002, Mediact has stewarded a contract to support independent film and video makers, media policy developmet, lifelong media education and public access. For seven years, it has provided an infrastructure focusing on the potential of creating a public media sector based on both shifting technological possibilities of access to the media and ongoing political democratization processes taking place in South Korea.
Mediact’s facilities are funded by the Korean Film Council (KOFIC), what is supposed to be an autonomous organization funded by the central government to promote Korean cinema within the country and overseas, and an independent activist organization managed by the Association of Korean Independent Film & Video (KIFV). We are highly alarmed by the new KOFIC Chairman's recent decision to dismantle Mediact and force its staff to resign as of February 1.
As Mediact’s counterparts in the international community, we have been long inspired by Mediact’s visionary leadership in the areas of media policy, media education, media production and communication rights. We, the undersigned, urge the government of President Lee Myung-bak to recognize its responsibility for the democracy that has regressed and reorient itself as a government that respects the people's sovereignty and South Korea's continued leadership in media and communication rights. We ask KOFIC together with the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to reverse this decision immediately.
http://indymedia.cast.or.kr/drupal/?q=ko/node/2114
Related articles in The Hankyoreh:
☞ International protest storms... (1.28)
☞ Don’t Hesitate: KOFIC should reverse its decision... (1.29)
From yesterday's Hankyoreh:
Police and Prosecutors Begin Union Attack
Members of the Korean Government Employees Union (KGEU) and Korean Teachers and Education Workers’ Union (KTU), who issued emergency statements, stand ready but bewildered at the charging police officer and prosecutor, who says, “You better get ready for the fight ahead!”
The police officer goes on the attack as he targets the teachers with a Lee Myung-bak administration-led investigation.
A total of 69 members of both organizations were issued police summmons on Jan. 25 for allegedly joining and paying (membership)dues to the Democratic Labor Party (DLP).
Meanwhile, a sign taped to the prosecutor’s back reveals that they have actually been hired as thugs to investigate. Observers are saying that the leaders are being targeted by the Lee Myung-bak administration in an attempt to paint the recent not-guilty verdict over KTU’s emergency statements last year in political colors.
http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_entertainment/401298.html
A (daily updated!!) collection of related articles you'll find on LabourStart!
PS:
AFAIK: the DLP is just a product of the KCTU! And KTU, KGEU are KCTU members^^
The DLP, according to Wikipedia: "The Democratic Labor Party is a Left-wing... party in South Korea... It was founded in the effort to create a political wing for the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions..."
Today's (bourgeois) Korea Herald(KH) published following reader's letter (related to it's article "Seoul's redevelopment dilemma"):
I lived in Seoul from 2003 to 2007. In the beginning, the city including my residential area in Hannam-dong still had many nice corners to live. Cozy neighborhoods, small private businesses and eateries, low-rise housing districts with gardens, great views of the neighboring mountains and rivers - like cities in advanced countries.
In the case of housing projects, I would better call it reckless destruction of what the local people have developed over decades. On the Gangbuk side, one could call it the "Gangnamification" process, turning good old Seoul into a faceless concrete jungle. The result: Too-high buildings, too narrow, more steel and asphalt, more people, more traffic, and less space, less green, less sunshine, less free views. Exactly the opposite of what city planners in advanced and emerging countries are currently doing.
In advanced democracies it is almost impossible to kick residents or small businesses out of their place, simply because the city mayor and landowners like to have "redevelopment" right on their land. Before I moved to Korea, I believed this could only be practiced in places like China.
And for the low-income people in old, run-down districts: Why not give them some money as an incentive to renovate and upgrade their existing buildings? This is what we call "redevelopment" in European cities, and what Seoul did until 2005 in a few small-scale campaigns. Much less planning, bargaining, painful arguing and time would be needed, much less concrete would be wasted.
My experience: Seoul has no lack of apartments. It has too many people. Far too many. It is mercilessly overcrowded. World class cities in advanced countries have stable populations, mostly less than a million. And their population density is much less than that of Seoul and Calcutta. The capital of my home country, Berlin, is the size of Seoul, but only has 3.4 million inhabitants. And so it will remain.
Another example: The most attractive global city in the world, according to annual surveys with managers and diplomats, is Geneva, Switzerland. Under 200,000 people only. No matter if the whole world would like to live there - locals would never allow destruction of their old quarters and lush parks only to turn them into high rise development zones. They want to keep it first in world style and top in class. Whoever wants to move in, has to pay the price - that's the market principle.
There is a right to housing, as professor Kim states. But there is no fundamental right for all Koreans to live in Seoul. Korea is an empty country. Only the space of Seoul and some satellite cities is fully occupied. There should be a general ban on new apartment construction.
http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/NEWKHSITE/data/html_dir/2010/01/27/201001270050.asp
Meanwhile KH published today it's last piece (by M. Lamers and H. Chang) on the "redevelopment" issue in the S.K. capital:
☞ Erasing the past to build the future
Solidarity With the Struggle of Migrant Workers in S.K.!
Agit-prop Rally/Candlelight Vigil in Seoul
Tomorrow(Wed.), 7 p.m., Namguro Stn.(subway line no. 7), exit no. 3
!!'불법'사람은 없다!!
For more info please check out:
☞ 1/27 뭐라도 팀 액션공지!!
Last Wednesday (1.20) evening: a few activists marked the 1st anniversary of the Yongsan Massacre with a "Memorial Culture Festival"...
The Hankyoreh (1.21) wrote following:
Marking the first anniversary of the Yongsan Tragedy
On the first anniversary of Yongsan Tragedy, the artists who created a graphic novel entitled 'Yongsan, where I had lived' embrace bereaved family members of the Yongsan Tragedy after presenting them with the books at the site of tragedy, Jan. 20.
This marked the first anniversary ceremony and final service for the Yongsan Tragedy. At the cememony, many artists, musicians, graphic novelists and actors performed culture performances for the bereaved family members and victims.
Kim Young-duk, the 56-year-old widow of the late Yang hee-seong, one of the Yongsan Tragedy victims, said at the ceremony that she will continue to fight until she finds out the real story and truth behind the tragedy. Kim said, “Please remember Yongsan.”
With the rainfall, approximately one hundred citizens took part in the remarks and performances as a last service for the victims.
Related:
☞ [1.20] ActionRadio's audio recording
The following photo shows (allegedly!!) a North Korean girl visiting Mangyeongdae ('Kim Il-sung's birthplace' near Pyongyang):
In case the photo isn't just a fake:
Dear funny Jesus-lovin'(???) girl,
for sure you're a member of the "Kim Il-sung Socialist Youth League"!
So you should know that there's only ONE GOD and this is the Great Leader Kim Il-sung (and Kim Jong-il is his sole, legitimate son, aka Son of God)! And you also should know that you have to love no other than the Great Leader (GOD) and the Dear Leader (his f*cking son)!!
PS:
In case that you've no idea about the (f*cking stupid) writing on your t-shirt: Sorry but... Ignorance is no excuse in law! (^^)
Related stuff:
☞ NK Girl Wears 'I Love Jesus' Shirt (K. Times, 1.22)
☞ Jesus at Mangyongdae (N.K. Economy Watch, 1.19)
The articles of the (bourgeois) Korea Herald are usually - in the best case - complete featureless, with some very rare exceptions. And the following impressive piece, published last Tuesday(1.19), belongs to those rare exceptions:
Yongsan Evictees in the Struggle of their Lives
By Matthew Lamers and Hannah Chang
Choi Soon-kyung and Yu Young-sook aren't after revenge. And justice isn't their only priority. Their biggest concern since Choi's restaurant was forcefully closed and Yu's husband was killed during a police raid is to exercise their right to make a decent living.
On a mild Nov. 4, 2008 morning, Choi says sledgehammer-wielding "gangsters" hired by construction companies showed up at her restaurant as diners sat down to brunch and smashed to pieces everything they couldn't carry away. This occurred even though the government had said she had until Nov. 28 to close shop and relocate. Her restaurant sat on land slated for redevelopment and the men, officially referred to as movers, were carrying out an eviction order issued by Seoul City.
Critics say Choi's situation is illustrative of how the Yongsan District 4 redevelopment has been carried out. It involves hired "movers," intimidation and ultimately the killing of five protestors and one policeman.
Since its unveiling in 2007, the project has faced resistance from local communities. The tenant eviction process started in August 2008. Faced with few options, most accepted small amounts of compensation. Others fought.
Emotions reached boiling point on Jan. 20, 2009 when police raided a building that protestors had been holed up in since the previous day. Five protestors and one police officer were killed in the ensuing battle - including Yu's husband - which pitted Molotov cocktail-armed resisters against aggressive SWAT police.
At the heart of the issue for the former residents is their ability to maintain their standard of living. Most urban planners agree that a smooth redevelopment project hinges on the concept of reciprocation: The end result should not leave tenants worse off than they were before. But friction has resulted from the fact that most of Seoul's redevelopment projects over the past few decades have resulted in relatively small tenant compensation packages. After all is said and done, too many tenants say they are worse off post-redevelopment.
Also driving discontent on both sides of the debate are tactics employed by either side. Evictees say they face intense intimidation, inadequate representation and physical coercion. While those on the redevelopment side say evictees' demands are unreasonable and actions disproportionate.
The case of Choi Soon-kyung
Choi Soon-kyung lives in a tent with other evictees. In this interview, it has been just over two weeks since protestors were killed in the Yongsan raid. She speaks of justice, but she mostly wants to talk about her right as a Korean citizen to earn a living.
The interviews are conducted February 2009 to January 2010.
"If they were going to have an early eviction, they should have at least notified me at least once. Isn't this a basic right? Isn't this common sense?" she asks. "If they had evicted me on the day they had told me they would, I wouldn't have had any other choice but to follow the law and leave. But they didn't keep their end of the deal."
She takes us to the site of her once-bustling restaurant, Bokyung Shikdang. We find it enclosed behind a 3-meter-high metal fence.
The walk through the redevelopment zone is unreal. Picture Seoul, circa 1951 - indiscriminate destruction. A photo album lays open in the rubble showing once-happy times for newlyweds. Structures remain barely intact; most less so than others. "Leave your home or you will die," reads some graffiti. "Lee Myung-bak is a killer," reads its rebuttal. A homeless man sleeps in the storefront of a dilapidated building.
The limbo of the neighborhood is palpable. There's no running water or electricity. But a few hardcore resisters still live here.
Walking through the unkempt streets, Choi further explains that her first priority in her struggle is to secure a livelihood. But over the course of the interviews, the desire for a full account of the Jan. 20 incident heightens. As evictees lose hope for fair compensation, calls for accountability become louder.
"Please take the tenants into consideration. Understand our stance and give us appropriate compensation. Give us the rights and means to live in another place. Afford us the chance to move and start a business in another place. They should give us the right to live and survive. This is all we need, more than the compensation," she says.
The core of Choi's demands has been a call for the placement of a temporary building where she could live in and do business from while the redevelopment work goes forward. She is also sensitive of the negative image of her that has been propagated by some pro-development media outlets. In later interviews she voices the need for more compensation.
"I am very sorry to the citizens who are watching our miserable news. ... But we are not bad people. I want them to just understand that we are not terrorists. We are just innocent people who want to maintain our rights to live as citizens of the Republic of Korea," she pleads.
Choi was offered 2.9 million won as compensation, an amount she describes as so inadequate it wouldn't be enough to operate a "pojangmacha," or a covered street wagon, to sell simple food.
"All I have now are these clothes I was wearing then."
In the next interview, a week later, Choi tells of the months between her eviction and the time she joined the National Evictee's Alliance in January 2009. She describes this time as "the lowest of the low," because she had nowhere permanent to live. Some nights she'd stay in a small room in a closed-down billiard hall, another night she would make do in a shuttered cafe.
"I've been to many others' shops. One of them was (a friend's) cafe, since there were no fences to keep us out. The fencing started in January. Though we couldn't do business, we had been able to get inside, at least." The mammoth fences were erected to keep evictees out of their former homes and businesses.
"I kept visiting my neighbors, going around and around. I was very sorry they had to put up with me. ... But tears of blood flowed from my heart. I didn't want others to notice," Choi admits.
Since moving into the tent with the other evictees in January, she says she has been much less desperate. It's much better, she says, now that they can make meals together in this tent. Eating had been her biggest concern.
The tent is cold - it being the second week of February at the time of the interview - but it has a small fridge, heater, and kitchen supplies. It's adequate, but nothing more. She does laundry at a friend's house. But sometimes she has to clean her clothes at a "mokyoktang," or bathing house.
"I often hear many critical words from other customers when I do my laundry there because it smells when I keep them there to dry," she says. "This life as it is, is the lowest of the low. I have no money."
In the next interview in late February, Choi explains how she came to call Yongsan home.
At the time Park Chung-hee was president in the 1960s and 1970s, Choi ran a Japanese restaurant in Jeolla Province. She says she eventually closed the business because of her hard economic situation. Later, she moved back to Yongsan.
She started a shop (next to the tent she now lives in). After selling it, she founded Bokyung Shikdang in 1993 with a loan of 40 million won from the bank. The business was successful and she was able to repay her debts.
But during the IMF crisis in 1997 she was forced to borrow 30 million won from the bank to keep Bokyung Shikdang afloat.
In July 2008, Choi received notice from the district court that her area was due to be redeveloped. She was given three notices saying her eviction date would be Nov. 28. The "movers" showed up on Nov. 4.
In an interview in March, Choi talks at length about finally being granted low-income assistance from the government.
Two days after her restaurant was closed, Choi made a trip to the district office on Nov. 6, 2008 to apply for government support for basic living expenses. She did not receive anything until February. The delay, she says, was attributed to her not having a mailing address, so the district office told her to move. But she says if she followed their instructions, it would have made her ineligible for redevelopment compensation, since she would no longer have been a resident of Yongsan District 4.
Her solution was to make the tent she had been living in for two months her home address. The district office accepted the application and has been issuing low-income assistance checks worth 400,000 won.
In the next interview in August, Choi describes a less precarious position. She says she is generally happier, but justice still has not been carried out. Five evictees were sentenced to terms in prison. It is Choi's position that the public prosecutors have been concealing thousands of pages of the 10,000 page investigation into the Jan. 20 fire.
The living conditions have improved since they moved out of the tent and into an abandoned, adjoining building. It is a former bar owned by a man killed in the Jan. 20 fire.
For the first time, she speaks of forgiveness. But although Choi admits she is ready to forgive, she is still pursuing justice. "Now I feel calmer than before. I think I am ready to forgive, but I still believe the government should admit their faults and apologize to the citizens."
She also responds to criticism that the evictees are blowing the Jan. 20 deaths out of proportion. As the months have passed, some have said they should focus more on an amicable resolution.
"It's a matter of perspective. Among the people who passed away during the fire in January include two people from our district, and three from other places. Those people had come to our aid to help the evictees here - we're all in it together. And I think we are almost at the finishing line."
As it turns out, they aren't almost at the finishing line. Developments over the next five months are few and far between. Evictees waited until the second-last day of 2009 to hear that a settlement had been reached.
But the deal Seoul strikes with the Yongsan Coalition doesn't seem to sit well with all of the remaining evictees.
The evictee coalition said the settlement has three parts. 1) Prime Minister Chung Un-chan will show remorse to the families of the killed protestors. He will acknowledge the government's responsibility in the Jan. 20 incident; 2) The redevelopment association will allocate the Yongsan Coalition money to distribute among families of the deceased protestors and the remaining evictees. The cash will also be used to pay for the funeral; 3) Intermediaries from different religious groups will monitor the implementation of the settlement.
But Choi said she's still waiting for the prime minister's apology.
"We feel this is very ridiculous. The only thing revealed was the compensation for the funeral and nothing else. How could they possibly not have come up with any resolutions for the other conditions that we have been demanding?" she asks.
She says they are waiting for 1) more compensation for the eviction; 2) the right to purchase rental apartments; 3) a temporary container or a building to continue business during the construction.
"Although the funeral is over, my heart cannot be at ease. I feel I have been deceived by the city government and the related redevelopment companies. These are the feelings and thoughts that we evictees all share," she explains.
Choi said she expects the Yongsan Coalition to make an announcement on Jan. 26 regarding the distribution of the settlement.
"Everyone anticipated that everything would come to a conclusion with the funeral. However, this wasn't the case at all. None of the other demands we have been making to the city-government were addressed and are pending. ...
"We are all waiting for that day."
http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/NEWKHSITE/data/html_dir/2010/01/19/201001190045.asp
Related (supplementing) article:
☞ Seoul's redevelopment dilemma (K. Herald, 1.20)
"Guitars should be a means to liberation, not exploitation. No one should have their job taken away because they stand up for their rights" Tom Morello, Rage Against the Machine.
For more than 1000 days, S. Korean guitar workers and their supporters have protested against their illegal mass firing by Cort/Cor-tek Guitars.
January 8 -17: S. Korean and U.S. labor unions, community organizations, musicians, artists, and NAMM trade show attendees joined the Cort Action campaign in LA and Anaheim. Organizations and people lent their skills, their voices, and ideas and took the stage in public spaces in LA and in front of NAMM to amplify the struggle of the Cort/Cor-tek workers for their livelihoods and for worker rights:
Related articles:
☞ Musicians to join S.Korean union's struggle with Cor-Tek (Hankyoreh, 1.06)
☞ Rage's Tom Morello leads protest at NAMM show (MusicRadar, 1.14)
☞ Morello Protests Outside NAMM Conference (Exploiting in Sound, 1.16)
☞ 미 기타 회사 휀더, 콜트 문제 자체 조사 시작 (참세상, 1.20)
For more info (incl. pics and videos) please check out:
The following headline...
"S. Korean MoD Vows Preemptive Strikes Against N. Korea"
...in today's int'l media (here in the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth) proves that political cretinism is not Pyongyang's exclusive possession!
Today's Yonhap reported following:
S. Korea will launch preemptive strike in case of imminent nuclear attack
A preemptive strike would be the only way for South Korea to defend itself if it were to confirm North Korea has clear intentions of launching a nuclear attack, Seoul's chief of defense said Wednesday.
The latest remarks by Defense Minister Kim Tae-young come as the two Koreas opened a second day of talks on further developing a joint industrial complex in the North. The talks came just days after Pyongyang warned of armed action against the South over unconfirmed reports that Seoul has drawn up a contingency plan in case of a regime collapse in the communist country.
"We would have to strike (North Korea) right away if we detected that it has a clear intention to attack (South Korea) with nuclear weapons," Defense Minister Kim Tae-young told a local defense forum.
"It would be too late and the damage would be too big if, in the case of a North Korean nuclear strike, we had to cope with the attack. There can be no changes to this principle."
Kim made similar remarks in 2008, then as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, shortly after Pyongyang test-fired several short-range missiles off its west coast. In a show of anger, North Korea kicked out a number of South Korean officials then working at inter-Korean project sites. The country also threatened "more powerful" attacks of its own...
And today's Korea Times added:
In regards to North Korea's increased military exercises in recent weeks, Defense Minister Kim said South Korea and the United States had mobilized all their intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance assets to closely monitor nuclear or missile activities in the North. "If the North makes a provocative move, we'll thwart it on the spot...'' Kim said.
And finally 'our favored'(^^) Chosun Ilbo used today's opportunity to add following article (yeah, the 'Dear Leader' will love it!!!):
☞ Think Tank Predicts Kim Jong-il's Death in 2012
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